The invention relates to door handle and latch sets, and more particularly to a door expansion adjusting handle and latch set particularly well suited for use in environments wherein the door is subject to swelling in the dimension through which the handle and latch is installed to thereby alleviate interference with the operation of the door handle and latch. For example, doors made of plywood, particle board, or waferboard (also known as oriented strand board (OSB)) can expand in thickness when they get wet, and do not always return to their original thickness after drying out. Expansion can also be due to temperature variations or other forces. While there are materials that resist expansion upon becoming wet, particle board and waferboard are readily available and economical to work with and remain popular with manufacturers of storage sheds, outbuildings, and the like.
In many door lock and latch set designs, a turnable handle is located on the outside of the door and a turnable handle is located on the inside of the door and are joined together by a shaft, and the distance between the handles on the shaft, once set, will not vary. The door can be opened from the inside by turning the inside handle and can likewise be opened from the outside by turning the outside handle (if it is unlocked for locking handles). A problem with current door handle sets is encountered when the door expands due to its material, e.g., waferboard, becoming moist or wet or swelling due to temperature or other factors. Since the distance between the inside handle and the outside handle connected to each other by a common shaft does not vary, rough operation of one or both of the handles can occur since expansion of the thickness of the door can exert abnormal pressure on the parts and cause parts in the door lock and latch set to bind up and become difficult to operate smoothly.
There accordingly remains a need for a door handle and latch set that will not bind up even if the door expands in thickness after the door handle and latch set have been installed.